I say the implementation of WFH is a blessing, it's one of the few "good things" that was presented to us during Covid.
Now, I say it's good because I live in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Yet, the number of people here still keeps growing rapidly, because all the big jobs and "opportunities" are here in this city, at least that's what they say.
I've seen my father and uncles waste 3 to 4 hours a day pushing traffic for the past 2 decades and more. The distance only being around a total of 20 to 30 kilometers, up and down. If there were strict traffic laws and a better traffic control systems, then maybe things would've been better, but sadly, nothing has changed in all these years. The traffic is getting worse, more cars and people on the streets too.
For now WFH is the only way out I'd say, it's an easy solution, because decentralization isn't going to be a thing before 2040/50. The rest of the cities are still playing catch up in terms of "opportunities" and job offers.
You can't even put a number or price on the amount of time we waste daily here in Dhaka, and that's just from pushing traffic. The transpiration costs are sky high as well, what used to be cheap, is cheap no more. So, with the time wasted and the money spent on the daily commute, most of the people can't really live a normal life, nor do they have the time or money for a bit of me time.
It's work, push traffic, sleep and repeat, and it's been that way for way too long.
I had some training sessions with some Indian clients during Covid and what was interesting, was how people wouldn't put their cameras on. They are working from home, but they also don't want people coming into their home, so to speak. Especially when there is likely quite big differences in living conditions around the world. It was much harder to build relationships with people and was nowhere near as effective as a face to face or even a camera on session.
That's actually a thing here, people around these parts are quite shy, some don't even know how to turn on the camera lol.
But things are changing though, now as freelancing and remote jobs become more common, people are opening up a bit more, especially the younger generation.
Thanks to new remote jobs and opportunities, people are now making three to five times more of what they'd earn here locally. A job that pays $500 a month here is considered "great", but to earn that much you'd need proper connections and probably half a decades worth of work and promotions in a single company.
But now, with all these new WFH opportunities and the outsourcing of jobs from the NA/EU region, people are making two to three times more of they'd make while working from their homes. From teenagers to millennials, if they now have the required skills and can adapt, then they're offered a way better starting salary, which can even be compared to what their parents make after climbing up the job/promotion ladder for a decade or so.
That's why the local companies are now having to step things up, a better pay, better facilities and flexibility, and many more options are now being offered. I wonder how the job sector will look like in 10 to 20 years.